24 ADHERENT PLACENTA: NEW MANAGEMENT OPTIONS

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24
ADHERENT PLACENTA: NEW MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
G. Kayem, T. Schmitz, V. Tsatsaris, F. Goffinet and D. Cabrol
INTRODUCTION
Placenta accreta occurs when a defect of the
decidua basalis results in abnormally invasive
placental implantation1. It is often diagnosed
only after delivery when manual removal of the
placenta has failed. Attempting forcible manual
removal of a placenta accreta can easily lead to
dramatic hemorrhage that may result in hysterectomy. Thus, placenta accreta and especially
placenta percreta reportedly result in a maternal
mortality rate of 7%, and cause intra- and postoperative morbidity associated with massive
blood transfusions, infection, ureteral damage,
and fistula formation2. Its incidence, along with
the Cesarean section rate, has increased 10-fold
over the past 50 years3. With a frequency
of approximately 1 per 1000 deliveries, this
disorder has become more common in today’s
medical practice4.
DIAGNOSIS OF PLACENTA ACCRETA
In practice, placenta accreta is diagnosed according to clinical or histological criteria as follows5.
If suspected before labor, prenatal diagnosis of
placenta accreta is confirmed by the failure of its
gentle attempted removal during the third stage
of labor. If not suspected before delivery, placenta accreta can be diagnosed if manual
removal of the placenta is partially or totally
impossible and no cleavage plane exists between
part or the entire placenta and the uterus; a
heavy bleeding occurs from the implantation
site after forced placental removal.
After a hysterectomy performed because of
postpartum hemorrhage, placenta accreta is
shown by histologic confirmation of accreta on
the hysterectomy specimen.
MANAGEMENT OF ADHERENT
PLACENTA
The classical approach most often recommended
in cases of placenta accreta is extirpative4. If risk
factors and prenatal imaging both strongly suggest this diagnosis, a Cesarean hysterectomy is
generally planned, especially for patients who
do not wish continued fertility. If the placenta
accreta is discovered after delivery, the placenta
is removed as soon as possible to empty the
uterine cavity. In most cases, however, this
forced placental delivery induces massive
hemorrhage and leads to hysterectomy.
When the diagnosis of adherent placenta is
not suspected before labor and a postpartum
hemorrhage is obviously related to attempting
forcible removal of a placenta accreta, several
options are possible, dependent on the patient’s
wishes and the cervical situation.
If there is no wish for continued fertility
or if the hemodynamic status is unstable, a
hysterectomy must be performed. Otherwise, an
attempt can be made to preserve the uterus
using surgical (ligating hypogastric arteries) or
radiological (embolization of the uterine arteries) techniques (see Chapters 30 and 32). Other
methods have been published in case reports
describing uterine packing, oversewing the placental bed, prostaglandin administration, direct
aortic compression and argon beam coagulation
in order to decrease blood loss6. More recently,
a simple method using parallel sagittal ligatures
of the lower segment has been described; it is
particularly useful if the hemorrhage is located
to the lower segment7. Other similar methods,
more complex to perform, have also been described, but seem to be associated with serious
side-effects (uteropyosis, synechia)8–10.
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POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
We believe these methods can be used only
when the diagnosis of adherent placenta has
been made after attempting forcible removal
and in case of severe hemorrhage.
An alternative therapeutic approach to the
placenta is conservative rather than extirpative.
Some cases of successful conservative management of placenta accreta have previously been
reported11–15.
Conservative strategy was initiated in our
center in 1997 and followed the successful
conservative management of one case of
placenta accreta, by leaving the placenta in
place16. Since this date, our protocol is to
manage most cases of placenta accreta conservatively, leaving in situ each placenta that
adheres either partially or totally to the
myometrium. We evaluated this management
by a historical consecutive study to compare the
impact of conservative and extirpative strategies
for placenta accreta on maternal morbidity and
mortality17.
Two consecutive periods, A and B, were
compared. During period A (January 1993 to
June 1997), our written protocol called for the
systematic manual removal of the placenta, to
leave the uterine cavity empty. In period B (July
1997 to December 2002), we changed our
policy by leaving the placenta in situ. The
following outcomes over the two periods were
compared: need for blood transfusion, hysterectomy, intensive care unit admission, duration
of stay in intensive care unit, and postpartum
endometritis. Thirty-three cases of placenta
accreta were observed among 31 921 deliveries
(1.03/1000). During period B, there was a
reduction in the hysterectomy rate (from
11 (84.6%) to 3 (15%); p < 0.001), the
mean number of red blood cells transfused
(3230 ± 2170 ml vs. 1560 ± 1646 ml; p < 0.01),
and disseminated intravascular coagulation
(5 (38.5%) vs. 1 (5.0%); p = 0.02), compared
with period A. There were three cases of sepsis
in period B and none in period A (p = 0.26).
One hysterectomy was required at day 26,
because of sepsis and hemorrhage, after a
conservative management of an entire
placenta accreta. Two women with conservative
management have subsequently had successful
pregnancies.
DESCRIPTION OF CONSERVATIVE
MANAGEMENT
Depending on how the placenta accreta is
discovered, two different types of conservative
treatment can be used.
(1) When discovered during the third stage of
labor, removal of the placenta is not forced;
the conservative treatment leaves the placenta, in part or entirely, in the uterus when
the patient’s hemodynamic status is stable
and no septic risk is present.
(2) When the placenta accreta is strongly suspected before delivery (based on history and
ultrasound and/or magnetic resonance
imaging suggestive of the diagnosis), the
case is discussed at the daily obstetric
staff meeting and conservative treatment
is proposed to the patient. In this case,
management includes the following steps
(Figure 1). The precise position of the
placenta is determined by ultrasound. A
Cesarean section is planned, with the
abdominal incision at the infraumbilical
midline, enlarged above the umbilicus if
necessary, and a vertical uterine incision at
a distance from the placental insertion.
After extraction of the infant, delivery of the
placenta is attempted prudently, with an
intravenous injection of 5 IU oxytocin and
moderate cord traction. If this fails, the placenta is considered to be ‘accreta’. The cord
is cut at the placental insertion and the placenta left in the uterine cavity; the uterine
incision is closed. Prophylactic antibiotic
therapy (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid) is
administered for 10 days.
FOLLOW-UP AFTER CONSERVATIVE
MANAGEMENT
During the postpartum period, all patients are
seen weekly until complete resorption of the
placenta. Ultrasonography and clinical examination are performed to detect hemorrhage,
pain or clinical signs of infection. To improve
clinical follow-up and to help choose antibiotic
therapy in cases of endometritis with or without
sepsis, C-reactive protein and blood counts are
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Adherent placenta
Prenatal suspicion of placenta accreta
(placenta previa + previous Cesarean
section)
Discussion with the patient
Medical staff meeting
Patient wishes for continued
fertility
Patient does not
wish for continued
fertility
Cesarean
section +
hysterectomy
Cesarean section with:
Ultrasound location of the placenta
Vertical hysterotomy at a distance from the placenta
Fetal delivery
Delivery of the placenta is attempted prudently, with oxytocin 5 IU
injection and moderate cord traction
Success: placenta
normally inserted
Failure: Confirm the diagnosis of placenta accreta
Section of the umbilical cord
Closure of the uterine incision
Sulprostone (8.3 ml/min for 1 h)
Systematic
Radiological embolization except if there is no bleeding after
surgical treatment
Follow-up once a week
- Clinical examination (bleeding, fever, pelvic pain)
- Hemoglobin level, leukocyte numeration, C-reactive protein,
vaginal sample for bacteriological examination
- Ultrasound examinations (size of the retained placenta)
Figure 1
Conservative management of placenta accreta that is strongly suspected before delivery
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POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
assayed and vaginal samples are taken for
bacteriological study.
accreta is strongly suspected before labor,
should be preferable to confirm the diagnosis.
COMPLICATIONS OF CONSERVATIVE
MANAGEMENT
OPTIMAL ADJUVANT THERAPY IN
CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT
Methotrexate, uterine artery embolization and
sulprostone are three adjuvant treatments described in several case reports involving conservative treatment14,18–21. The outcome when
the placenta is left in place after methotrexate
administration varies widely; it ranges from
expulsion at 7 days to progressive resorption
in roughly 6 months14,18–20. We do not use
methotrexate at all. Similarly, only a few reports
describe the outcome after embolization and
leaving the placenta in situ22. In our practice, we
perform, almost systematically, embolization of
uterine arteries to diminish or prevent a postpartum hemorrhage. Sulprostone is a wellknown uterotonic agent utilized in case of
postpartum hemorrhage. It can be used to prevent or treat immediate abnormal postpartum
bleeding. Data do not currently prove the benefit of adding this therapy to conservative treatment; however, its utilization may contribute to
the prevention of major postpartum bleeding in
the 2 or 3 days after delivery.
PRENATAL IDENTIFICATION OF
PLACENTA ACCRETA FOR
CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT
Prenatal identification of placenta accreta
would facilitate the choices about management
of delivery and allow the appropriate precautions (reinforcement of obstetric, anesthetic and
radiology teams, blood transfusion readiness).
However, the sensitivity and specificity of
transvaginal or transabdominal ultrasound and
magnetic resonance imaging vary from 33% to
95% in different studies; they depend greatly on
placenta location23–26. For these reasons, imaging should be considered only when placenta
accreta is suspected for clinical reasons (mainly
placenta previa associated with previous Cesarean section). Moreover, systematic attempts at a
careful and gentle intraoperative delivery of the
placenta (intravenous injection of 5 IU oxytocin
and moderate contraction), even when placenta
Conservative management is a strategy that
must be applied with discretion. Complications
are possible and include sepsis and hemorrhage
with failure of conservative management21,27. In
case of secondary hemorrhage and/or sepsis
following a conservative management, hysterectomy may become necessary. At present, the
number of patients managed with this strategy
is too low for an adequate evaluation of the
risk of rare severe maternal morbidity or
mortality. Accordingly, this type of management is presently appropriate only when rigorous monitoring can follow, in centers with
adequate equipment and resources26.
Ideally, these complications should be
discussed prenatally with the patient to give her
complete information about the different therapeutic strategies (extirpative or conservative).
Given the difficulties mentioned above for prenatal diagnosis, this discussion is rarely possible.
Accordingly, one possible option is to preserve
maternal fertility and to diminish the risk of
hemorrhage when placenta accreta is discovered
during delivery.
FERTILITY AFTER CONSERVATIVE
MANAGEMENT AND RISK OF
RECURRENCE
In our experience, seven patients managed
conservatively were contacted from 1–5 years
afterwards, whereas ten were lost to long-term
follow-up. Of these seven, one had another
successful pregnancy 2 years later and another
had two consecutive successful pregnancies,
both complicated by placenta accreta, located
at the same place, and treated conservatively
again. The others chose, for various personal
reasons, not to become pregnant again. None
sought subsequent treatment for sterility.
The possibility of recurrence should thus be
discussed with the woman when deciding on
the initial conservative management. Moreover,
in any subsequent pregnancies following a
conservative management, the risk of placenta
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Adherent placenta
accreta should be monitored carefully by appropriate investigations, particularly if the placenta
is located in the same site as before.
CONCLUSIONS
Conservative management of placenta accreta
appears to be a safe alternative to extirpative
management. However, it must be applied cautiously and should be proposed only in centers
with adequate resources, and the capability of
securing a strict follow-up in order to detect and
treat subsequent complications.
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POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
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